


a little unusual

by maketea



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pining, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 19:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20822936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maketea/pseuds/maketea
Summary: marinette let an unusual thought enter her mind: what if he kissed her?it'd be unusual for a friend to kiss his friend's neck.and it's unusual for a friend to want her friend to kiss her neck, too, she reminded herself.





	a little unusual

"Isn't this a little unusual?" Marinette asked, in Adrien's arms, facing away from him.

"Why would it be?" he replied.

She rubbed the forearm he had wrapped around her waist. 

The proof was in the fact that nobody knew.

Alya didn't know that while Marinette was 'studying with Adrien', Marinette's handwritten flashcards were abandoned on the floor with their textbooks while they cuddled on her tiny chaise. Marinette's mother proffered platefuls of cookies, cakes, and fresh-baked bread to her daughter and her hardworking friend as if they hadn't been lying close enough to feel each other breathe two minutes before she flung open the hatch. Moreover, they never spoke of it at school. He'd ask if they were still on for studying, and she'd say yes, and that was that. 

Secrets were secrets because they were unusual.

She shrugged. "No reason."

Adrien hummed in thought. Then he pulled her closer, wrapped his leg around hers and cocooned her into an embrace.

"Clingy." Marinette wriggled around.

"I like being close to you."

She froze. 

How unusual.

(Though Marinette could handle a little unusual).

"You're warm," he continued.

A little unusual was fine.

"Sometimes… I just want to hold someone. And it feels so nice holding you." Adrien buried his face into her neck.

Marinette let an unusual thought enter her mind: what if he kissed her?

A little peck on the side of her neck. He could pretend he didn't mean to, and she could pretend she didn't feel it, because it'd be unusual for a friend to kiss his friend's neck. 

_ And it's unusual for a friend to want her friend to kiss her neck, too, _ she reminded herself.

"Who was the last person you hugged?" Marinette asked, brushing her fingers along his goosebumps while begging her face to cool down. 

"You."

She giggled. "O-other than me, silly."

"Chloé."

"You know I don't mean that." She gave his forearm a squeeze. "I mean a real hug."

He grew quiet. Marinette might have been concerned if he'd stopped drawing circles on her stomach, or moved away, or hesitated against her hair like he did whenever she asked a difficult question.

(A question about his family, normally. It came up frequently whenever they cuddled.)

"My father," he said after thinking. "I think a few months ago."

"Why?"

"He's not affectionate, Marinette," he said a little coldly.

"I mean, why did he hug you?"

"Oh." Adrien paused. "I don't really remember."

Marinette's chest clenched. 

When she didn't say anything, and the silence seemed to shift, Adrien cuddled her closer. "But it's not a big deal. I have you for hugs."

She half-turned in his embrace, already occupying too much space on her little chaise. Marinette reached up and, in a manner that may have been too friendly, used her index finger to stroke his cheekbone.

"Did…" Marinette swallowed. "Did your mum hug you a lot?" 

Adrien rested his hand against her wrist and smiled sadly. "A lot. She read this article once about people needing to be hugged a certain amount of times every day."

"How many?"

"Eight?" he countered, thumb rubbing her veins. "Something like that, at least."

Marinette stretched her fingers out and cupped Adrien's cheek instead. He leaned into her touch. "I can hug you eight times a day, if you want." Which was not an unusual offer from a friend, Marinette reassured herself.

"What if we just cuddle extra long whenever we're together?" He gave her a lopsided, cheeky grin that Marinette felt against her palm. "That'd do the trick, right?"

She pinched him, making his grin even more lopsided. "You just want an excuse to play with my hair."

"Oh, yeah." Adrien ran his fingers along her temple and all the way through her hair until they nudged her secured pigtail. "But…" He made her shiver by rubbing the back of her neck. Adrien curled into himself, shying away from Marinette. "I also just like being close to you."

And he must have felt the blush rise up her body against his fingertips, and Marinette couldn't even pretend that it wasn't unusual — because cuddling up in a chaise with your best friend was unusual, cradling his face was unusual, letting him nuzzle your neck and lean into your warmth and  _ wanting _ him to kiss your skin was unusual. 

So Marinette didn't pretend. She looked at him for a moment, then placed her head against his heartbeat.

To her delight, it beat unusually fast.


End file.
